NFL Capsules - AFC: Colts, Pats make arguments for decade's best team
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Let the debate begin.
A couple of weeks ago, Colts tight end Jacob Tamme was watching the New England Patriots play on television when he saw a surprising graphic pop up. It said New England had won more games over the last decade than any team in the NFL.
"I thought, 'WE had that record,'" Tamme said Wednesday with a smile.
Technically, he's right. NFL spokesman Corry Rush confirmed that official NFL stats only count regular-season numbers, meaning Indy's 115 regular-season victories from 2000 to 2009 are considered the most in any decade in league history. New England, however, prefers to count postseason games — the most meaningful of all — and believes it had more overall wins (133 to the Colts' 130) during the last decade.
Yes, they're merely numbers, but they do demonstrate how tricky it can be define success in today's NFL — and how heated this rivalry between former division foes can get. It resumes Sunday at New England.
"That's what makes it fun, and I think that's why both teams respect each other so much," said Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, one of only two players on either team's current roster who has been with both teams. "But I don't think that's really important unless you're sitting around a campfire drinking a beer."
Judging by the ultimate measuring stick, it's no contest. New England went 3-1 in Super Bowls during the last decade compared with 1-1 for the Colts. If, however, you prefer consistency, well, things get a little more complex.
Indy (6-3) has a record seven straight 12-win seasons, won 23 straight regular-season games — breaking New England's record — and has missed the playoffs only once since 2000. New England missed the playoffs three times during that span, though the Pats do own one more division title (seven) than Indy and have the NFL's only undefeated regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
And you can forget about trying to persuade fans or officials in the respective organizations to concede defeat.
Last December, after the Colts pulled their starters early against the New York Jets in a game that ended Indy's perfect quest, team president Bill Polian explained Indy had done it partly because it had already achieved two of the records they wanted most — longest winning streak and victories in a decade.
It didn't take the Pats (7-2) long to argue they held the mark.
"I didn't know that, but they definitely have an argument," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "But to me, who really cares? When you're retired, you can both say, 'We had a great tenure.'"
The debate goes deeper than numbers. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are clearly two of the game's elite quarterbacks, and fans and teammates find themselves in opposite corners, too.
Manning has a record four MVP Awards and one Super Bowl ring. Brady has three Super Bowl rings and one MVP Award. Not surprisingly, teammates line up in the same opposite corners as the fans.
But as the two teams renew their annual November rivalry in Foxborough, Mass., they don't have time to think about the historical implications.
It's the eighth consecutive season the teams have met in the regular season and the fifth straight year they've played in November. They also met in the playoffs three times since the 2003 season, and the balance of power has completely shifted in the series.
New England won six straight from 2001 through the 2004 season. Indy has won five of the last six, including last year's memorable debacle in which coach Bill Belichick turned the ball over deep in his own territory after the Colts stymied a fourth-and-2 play. Indy rallied for the win.
"I think if you look at most of our games against Indianapolis, they've all been very — most of them — have been very close, whichever way they've gone," Belichick said. "I think the overall competitiveness of the games would, (with) a play or two here or there, (change) things in a little different direction."
And perhaps change the perception of who is the better team — regardless of the spin the two teams have put on it.
"You can make an argument for a lot of different things," Belichick said. "In the end, it's each individual team and that collection of players that particular year and that particular time during the season or whatever it is, that was able to go out there and be successful. ... The Colts have done a great job over the last decade — whatever it's been. They've just been good, won a lot of games and done it the right way."
Pats and Colts to meet for 13th time in 10 years
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A nervous Tom Brady was warming up before his first pro start when one of his opponents took a moment to introduce himself.
"He said, 'Hi, Tom, I'm Peyton,' " Brady recalled, "which I thought was pretty cool."
On that day in September 2001 in Foxborough, the Patriots star-to-be was surprised that Peyton Manning, who already had been in two Pro Bowls, even knew his name. Since then, the top quarterbacks of the decade have been frequent foes.
New England and Indianapolis may be in different divisions, but on Sunday two of the NFL's most dominant franchises will meet for the eighth straight season, the longest streak between non-division opponents since the league realigned its divisions in 2002.
The tally so far: Patriots 7, Colts 5, including a 2-1 playoff edge for New England.
"You look at last year's notes, and they kind of look the same with players and scouting reports and all the different things that they do well and things that we've got to try to exploit," Brady said Wednesday. "There's a lot of familiarity."
That first game, a 44-13 win in which Manning's four interceptions contributed plenty to the Patriots' success, is the most memorable to Brady in all his games against the Colts because it was his first start. It came one week after Drew Bledsoe suffered internal bleeding on a hard hit from Mo Lewis of the New York Jets.
Brady isn't as eager to remember his last game against the Colts.
The Patriots lost 35-34 last Nov. 15 when coach Bill Belichick's big gamble failed. Hoping to seal the victory, he went for it on fourth-and-2 at his 28-yard line, but fell a yard short. The Colts got the ball with 2:00 left and scored with 13 seconds to go on Manning's 1-yard pass to Reggie Wayne. Adam Vinatieri then kicked the winning extra point.
"I haven't thought about it at all since probably that game, since that night," Brady said. "I'm always confident that we're going to be able to make the play."
New England and Indianapolis faced each other twice in 2001 when both were in the AFC East. They didn't meet in 2002 when the Colts moved to the AFC South. But they've hooked up once in each of the past seven regular seasons and three times in the playoffs.
One reason for such frequency is that top teams play other top teams as part of the scheduling formula.
The Patriots won the first six games in the rivalry once Brady became the starter, but since then the Colts have won five of six.
"It's always a great matchup," said New England wide receiver Deion Branch, reacquired from Seattle on Oct. 12. "I think every year things are totally different."
Both teams lead their divisions despite numerous injuries to key players. The Patriots (7-2) are tied with the New York Jets in the AFC East. The Colts (6-3) lead the AFC South by one game.
"We've played most of the games (with the Patriots) in November," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said. "Both teams have been playing fairly well at that juncture during past years, and the games end up being significant games just from the standpoint that they're so competitive. It's still only one game in the grand scheme of things, but it's one that is highly competitive."
Of the 12 matchups starting in 2001, seven have been decided by seven points or less. The biggest margin of victory in each of the last four games has been four points.
"I think if you look at most of our games against Indianapolis, they've all been very — most of them — have been very close, whichever way they've gone," Belichick said. "I think the overall competitiveness of the games would, (with) a play or two here or there, (change) things in a little different direction."
On Nov. 30, 2003, the Patriots won 38-34 when they kept the Colts from scoring with a second-and-goal at the 1 with 21 seconds left.
But on Jan. 21, 2007, the Colts won the AFC championship game — also 38-34 — when they held on at the end. Brady had moved the Patriots from their 21 to the Colts 45, then threw an interception to Marlin Jackson.
The Patriots were 6-1 against the Colts with Branch on the team. Then they traded him to Seattle and they were 1-4 against the Colts without him.
"Hopefully, we can go out and rewrite that," he said.
If not this year, maybe next year.
-- Howard Ulman
Titans focus on ending two-game skid, not NFC streak
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The schedule has brought the best possible sight for the skidding Tennessee Titans: An NFC opponent.
The Titans take a 12-game winning streak against the other conference and can sweep the NFC East this season when Washington (4-5) visits Sunday. A team that hasn't played at home but once since Oct. 3 is back in Nashville on a two-game skid that dropped the Titans (5-4) from a one-game lead in the AFC South to a game back of Indianapolis.
With another win, Tennessee would tie Miami and New Orleans for the second-longest interconference streak since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
"That's quite a run," Washington coach Mike Shanahan said Wednesday in a conference call with Tennessee reporters. "It just shows you how good a football team they are, that doesn't happen very often. Jeff (Fisher) always has his guys ready to play. They've a very well coached team. They play extremely hard so it will be a good challenge for us."
Fisher? Well, he's thinking only of the Redskins after a 29-17 loss in Miami last week.
"This is our next opponent and we have to become familiar with them and we just have to go out and play much better, protect the football and make plays," Fisher said.
With a win Sunday, the Titans would tie for the second-longest interconference winning streak since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Miami won 13 straight over the NFC between 1978 and 1981, while the New Orleans Saints downed 13 straight AFC teams between 1987 and 1990.
Tennessee would have to wait till next season with games against the NFC South to try and tie New England's 17-game streak set between 2005 and 2009.
They swept the NFC North in 2008 and the NFC West in 2009, and they've already won on the road in beating the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. They added a win over Philadelphia on Oct. 24.
Titans right guard Jake Scott said getting to 13 such wins would be nice.
"At the same time, we're trying to get to the playoffs. That's the important thing. AFC, NFC, it doesn't matter. We just need wins," Scott said.
Playing against the NFC, and doing well, means paying a little more attention when studying film. Left tackle Michael Roos said the key is making sure to study up on players' tendencies, those favorite moves they already know from playing AFC teams so much.
"Someone in the NFC might be a new guy drafted three years ago and you still haven't seen them," Roos said. "You have to look a little closer."
Roos thinks some of his teammates probably don't even realize this NFC streak is alive.
"Against the NFC, it might be the luck of the draw and the randomness of winning those games, and they happen to be NFC opponents. It's not something we think about or talk about. it's just happened that way. We try to win every game," Roos said.
Perhaps the Titans should have lobbied for a switch to the NFC back during realignment in 2002. Since then, the Titans are 26-9 against the NFC. They have been .500 or better in each of those seasons except in 2005 when they went 1-3 against the NFC West.
"There are a lot of excellent teams in the National Football League, and the NFC has been very strong," Shanahan said of the Titans' streak.
"It just shows you what type of group of guys they've got. That doesn't happen with a lot of guys going in the same direction and what they're capable of doing. Playing at home, we have to have our A game together to go in there, and we understand that because Tennessee is a heck of a football team."
Notes: Vince Young practiced Wednesday and wasn't listed on the injury report with the sprained left ankle that kept him from starting last week's loss in Miami. Rookie Rusty Smith took some snaps with the first-team offense to prepare him to back up Young. ... Backup quarterback Kerry Collins was among six Titans who did not practice. Collins said his left calf is feeling better but he doesn't know if he will be able to dress as the emergency quarterback yet. K Rob Bironas (back), WR Kenny Britt (right hamstring), DT Tony Brown (right knee), DB Vincent Fuller (hamstring) and TE Craig Stevens (knee) also did not practice. CB Cortland Finnegan (shin) was limited.
-- Teresa M. Walker
Jaguars believe Mincey will improve with time
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jeremy Mincey will never forget his first career start. Unfortunately for him, those memories have little to do with his performance.
He had five tackles and two quarterback hits Nov. 14 against Houston, a game the Jacksonville Jaguars won 31-24 because of David Garrard's "Hail Mary" pass to Mike Thomas on the final play.
Mincey made a few mental mistakes, had some technique issues, shattered his cast and left coach Jack Del Rio looking for improvement. Mincey believes his second start will be considerably better. The Jaguars (5-4) host the Cleveland Browns (3-6) on Sunday.
"I didn't play a bad, horrible game," Mincey said Wednesday. "I watched the film five times. There were some things I could have done better, but as far as playing hard and hustle, those were there. It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. But that's just rust."
Before the game against Houston, Mincey hadn't played since Oct. 24 at Kansas City. He broke his right hand a few days later, missed the following game at Dallas and then had a bye week.
Making his first start even more awkward, the Jaguars moved him from the left side to the right side to replace injured pass-rusher Aaron Kampman.
The result: Mincey's first career start was more like a complete reboot.
"I've got to ... learn to train my mind to do this on a repeated basis," he said. "Being a backup is a little different. You go in for five plays and you're focused for five plays. I've just got to turn the mental part of my game up."
Mincey played a career-high 48 snaps against the Texans. Some of those came with the cast on his right hand falling apart. But instead of taking a seat on the training table or the bench, Mincey stayed in the game.
"If I re-break the hand, I re-break the hand. I've got to continue to go out there. I just didn't even think about it. I just thought about winning the game," he said.
The coaches love Mincey's attitude, work ethic and motor — things they weren't totally pleased with regarding former first-round draft pick Derrick Harvey. They benched Harvey last month — finally giving up on the eighth overall pick from the 2008 draft — and turned the position over to Mincey.
But when Kampman tore a ligament in his right knee in practice last week, the Jaguars decided to move Mincey to the more high-profile spot on the right side.
"I've got to get my muscle memory back for playing on the right side, but I think that will come this week," Mincey said.
Mincey, who has 23 tackles and a sack this season, got to quarterback Matt Schaub twice on Sunday. Mincey thought he had a sack when Schaub threw out of bounds, but officials didn't flag him for intentional grounding.
Mincey said he had some minor mistakes, but nothing that can't be fixed this week in practice. Del Rio said Mincey and rookie Austen Lane have no choice but to step up their games.
"The guys that are playing are going to have to play at a higher level than what we got (Sunday)," Del Rio said. "Our defensive ends did not play very well. They're going to have to play much better going forward."
But he's sticking with Mincey and Lane.
"They've got great energy, they've got great desire, they'll work at it and then we expect to see it played at a higher level as we continue to go forward here," Del Rio said.
-- Mark Long
T.O. not lost for words with Bills coming to town
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — New team. Same old, defiant, outspoken and, yes, playful Terrell Owens.
Whether it was in Buffalo last year or now in Cincinnati, T.O. had no difficulty talking about himself, Bills quarterbacks or anything else Wednesday as the Bengals (2-7) prepare to host the Bills (1-8) in Sunday's "battle of the worst," as he put it.
Owens opened and closed a near 20-minute conference call with Buffalo reporters by playfully saying, "Go Bills." In between, he expressed no surprise that the Bills lost faith by cutting quarterback Trent Edwards earlier this season; and offered a message to anyone — including Buffalo's first-year coach Chan Gailey — who might have thought he hit the wall last season.
"No, T.O. doesn't hit any walls," Owens said when informed that was one of Gailey's concerns in not re-signing him. "Trust me, if there's any walls in front or me, I'm going to find a way to go through it, around it, or over it. There's no just hitting the wall."
At 36, Owens' production this season certainly speaks to the contrary.
Nine games in, he ranks third in the NFL with 834 yards receiving and is tied for fourth with seven touchdowns — numbers surpassing the 829 yards and five scores he had in his one year with the Bills.
Though disappointed in the Bengals' record, Owens isn't surprised by his resurgence in a year he had to wait until July for Cincinnati to sign him to a one-year contract.
"Teams passed up on me because of what I didn't do so much in Buffalo. Other than that, I can only do what I can do to prove a lot of people wrong," Owens said. "If I'm put in the right situation, I'm able to succeed and do some of the things that people are seeing now that they feel is, I guess, eye-opening for my age."
Though he isn't sure about his future with the Bengals beyond this season, Owens can see himself continuing to play and produce at 40. It was just like old times for Owens, who expressed similar sentiments in Buffalo.
And it was no surprise that T.O. had an opinion on the Bills' quarterbacking situation after Edwards, now a backup in Jacksonville, was benched after two games and then released a week later in favor of journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick.
"I think it was just going to be a matter of time," Owens said. "I was shocked at the beginning of the season that Trent was still named the starter. I think that coaching staff kind of recognized that he wasn't, I guess, at the level that they needed him to be."
Owens has a personal bias, because he had his best games with the Bills after Fitzpatrick took over in November. And that included Owens enjoying a season-best 197 yards receiving in an 18-15 loss at Jacksonville. It was a game in which Fitzpatrick hit him for a 98-yard touchdown pass, the longest in team history.
Edwards, by comparison, was the quarterback who failed to complete a pass to Owens in a 27-7 loss to New Orleans on Sept. 27, ending T.O.'s 185-game streak that was the third longest in NFL history.
"I liked Fitz's demeanor. I liked his confidence. He has that type of, you know, swagger about him," Owens said. "I knew the guy could play all along. I'm not surprised by any means. He's doing a great job."
Fitzpatrick isn't surprised by Owens' production this season. As a former backup in Cincinnati, Fitzpatrick also provided Bengals starter Carson Palmer a few words of advice regarding T.O. last summer.
"I told Carson, 'You want this guy on your team because he can play,'" Fitzpatrick said. "So they're using him, I guess, like he should be used, and throwing him the ball like crazy."
Where Fitzpatrick drew the line was whether he would've preferred Owens still be in Buffalo.
"I think everybody understood what it was. They brought him in for a year and things didn't work out the way everybody wanted them to work out," Fitzpatrick said before noting how well Steve Johnson has filled Owens' job as the No. 2 receiver. "I'm not disappointed I'm throwing to Steve instead of Terrell. I guess I can say that."
Gailey credited Owens for the season he's enjoying, but acknowledged the receiver's age and production played into the team's decision to not re-sign him.
"You do reach the wall, and it's a guess on when guys are going to do that. And you have to make assumptions with the information that you have at hand," Gailey said. "We didn't know where (the wall) was. We knew it was probably getting close. Obviously it wasn't. But we felt like it was getting close."
Gailey also added he wanted to free up a spot to allow his younger receivers to develop.
-- John Wawrow
Bengals' new kicker comes from obscurity
CINCINNATI (AP) — Former Ohio State kicker Aaron Pettrey was working part time at a shop that sells Buckeyes gear in Columbus, stocking merchandise and ringing up sales while waiting for some team to give him a chance.
It was starting to look like a long shot.
Pettrey did a little bit of everything at The Buckeye Room, which sells $79.95 Archie Griffin jerseys, OSU pumpkin cutting kits for $7.95 and all things in-between. He mingled with customers who never recognized him as a player in the Buckeye-crazed city.
"No one's going to recognize the kicker there," Pettrey said Wednesday. "Maybe if I was Terrelle Pryor there working, but they're not going to recognize me."
Pro teams seemed to be taking the same approach, overlooking him as they filled out their rosters and half of a season went by. He got his shot when another former Buckeye got hurt.
Cincinnati's Mike Nugent tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a 23-17 loss in Indianapolis on Sunday. His kicking leg gave out as he chased his onside kick late in the game, ending his season.
Suddenly, the Bengals were interested in a kicker who is familiar with knee problems.
Pettrey went 29 of 39 on field goals at Ohio State, leading the Big Ten in scoring and field goals (14) in 2009. He hurt his right knee on a kickoff against New Mexico State on Oct. 31, missed the last three regular-season games, then returned and kicked during a 26-17 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Carolina signed him as an undrafted free agent and waived him. He signed with Detroit, missed a 42-yard field goal in the preseason and was waived on Aug. 17, leaving him out of football. He kept in shape by working out at Ohio State's complex and got the job selling Buckeyes gear.
"They were nice enough to work with me," he said. "I told them I might have to leave for a tryout or anything kicking-wise, and they said, 'That's fine. If you ever need a day off, let us know.'"
He had to ask for some time off this week, when the Bengals called and invited him to Paul Brown Stadium for a tryout that led to the contract offer.
"I was getting ready for a couple of Arena League tryouts, so I was working out three times a week and hitting the ball pretty good," he said.
He moved into Nugent's locker — the third one from the door that leads to the field. Although glad to be in the NFL, he felt bad about the circumstances.
"When I was getting recruited (to Ohio State), he was still there," Pettrey said. "I've kicked with him several times and know him pretty well. It's just unfortunate. He was having such a good year."
He completes his move from fan-shop obscurity to NFL kicker on Sunday, when the Bengals (2-7) play at home against Buffalo (1-8). He figures his four years at Ohio State prepared him for the moment.
"They get 105,000 (fans) out every weekend and if you make a mistake, you're going to know about it in the paper the next day," Pettrey said. "It's basically an NFL team there. They get real excited about their football and like to see their team win."
-- Joe Kay
Suisham wins job, now must win over Steelers
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Shaun Suisham knows there's only one way to win over a Steelers locker room that isn't happy about the release of longtime kicker Jeff Reed.
Don't miss any field goal attempts. He doesn't plan to.
Suisham's resume isn't nearly as extensive as Reed's, and he missed important kicks last season for Washington and Dallas. But he's confident he can get the job done as Pittsburgh's kicker, something only Reed has done since the Steelers moved into Heinz Field in 2001.
Suisham hopes his tenure, whether it's measured in weeks or years, is more like Reed's than Kris Brown's or Todd Peterson's. Both failed before Reed won the job midway through the 2002 season, keeping it until he was released following a 26-yard miss Sunday against the Patriots.
While Reed was let go after missing seven of 22 attempts this season, Suisham won it with a lot fewer kicks than that.
With coach Mike Tomlin and director of football operations Kevin Colbert watching his tryout Tuesday, Suisham was signed after attempting only 10 to 12 kicks, by his own count. He also kicked off four or five times.
After fewer than 20 practice attempts by a kicker who's been cut a half-dozen times in the NFL, Reed's nine-season career in Pittsburgh was over.
"I couldn't believe it," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said.
"It was a big release; he's a big-time player and we're sad to see him go," linebacker James Farrior said.
Taking over a job in which a single failure at the wrong time can result in a player's release is difficult enough. Replacing a popular player like Reed makes it more difficult still, if only because Suisham knows his new teammates likely won't trust him the way they would Reed, who hasn't missed in the playoffs since 2004.
Suisham also must deal with one of the NFL's trickiest kicking venues. Heinz Field is a particularly difficult for kickers from late November on, due to the swirling winds off the three rivers and the slippery and sometimes semi-frozen grass.
Heinz's turf has been more stable since a hybrid surface that incorporates tufts of synthetic turf was discarded several years ago. Still, big chunks of loose sod were visible following the Steelers' 39-26 loss to New England on Sunday.
Reed blamed the notoriously bad Heinz turf for his missed chip-shot attempt in that game.
"I kicked very well there," Suisham said of his tryout. "Whatever team you're playing, the other kicker kicks on the same field, so it's even for everybody."
Suisham is stronger on kickoffs than Reed, but his 79.1 percent field-goal conversion rate is lower than Reed's 81.9 percent, which includes misses of 55, 51 and 49 yards this season.
The Steelers struggled for 1½ seasons after moving into Heinz to find a reliable kicker before settling on Reed. Brown missed 14 of 44 attempts in 2001, failing five times in the 30s and nine times in the 40s. Peterson missed nine of 21 attempts, including four of his last six, before Reed arrived in 2002.
"Playing in Dallas and Washington, larger markets, it (the pressure) is part of being a kicker in the NFL," Suisham said. "I love it. You learn to appreciate it a lot more when you're sitting at home watching football games."
He was sitting at home in Ohio until now partly because of his misses last season.
Suisham was cut by Washington in December, two days after missing a 23-yard attempt that would have secured a victory over New Orleans. The Saints came back to win in overtime.
"It was tough, it was just tough," said Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, who was with Washington last season. "We were upset, no question, but we knew that didn't win or lose the game."
Suisham later signed with Dallas, for which he had kicked twice previously, but he missed from 48 and 49 yards during a playoff loss to Minnesota and was subsequently cut. Suisham was in the Rams' camp this summer, but was released after less than a week.
"I never feel like I missed a field goal because I didn't put in the effort or put in the work or prepared myself the way I should," Suisham said. "I never anticipate missing, but when it does happen, I move on."
Of course, he doesn't want to move on the way Reed did.
"Jeff's a great kicker. He's going to get called at some point, whether it's the end of this year or next year," long snapper Greg Warren said. "He's going to be ready and he's going to kick well for somebody."
Suisham expects to do exactly that for the Steelers (6-3), starting Sunday against the Raiders (5-4).
"I don't plan to miss any field goals," he said.
-- Alan Robinson
Ravens poor secondary play is a primary concern
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are still searching for an effective cornerback duo, and their struggling secondary has become a primary concern for a defense in danger of losing its reputation as one of the best in the NFL.
Cornerbacks Chris Carr, Fabian Washington, Josh Wilson and Lardarius Webb have been repeatedly burned this season. Washington's futility cost him a starting job, and Webb and Wilson are still smarting from the beating that Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Roddy White laid on them last Thursday in a 26-21 victory.
"It's called the NFL," Wilson said Wednesday. "You're going to have your good days, you're going to have your bad days. You have to weather them all."
Ryan threw for 316 yards and three scores. Two games earlier, Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed four touchdown passes and rang up 382 yards passing.
The Ravens rank 13th in the NFL in passing yardage allowed, which goes a long way toward explaining why Baltimore has the 10th-ranked overall defense after finishing third last year — its seventh consecutive season in the top six.
Perhaps all that will change if the secondary carousel comes to a stop. Wilson arrived on Sept. 1 in a trade with Seattle, Webb got a late start this season while recovering from a knee injury and six-time Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed missed the first six weeks following offseason hip surgery.
"Communication is getting better and needs to get better," Reed said. "We thought we matched up well (against Atlanta), but the technical stuff on certain plays we didn't do well."
That's what happens when a veteran defense takes on some new parts.
"A lot of us have played with each other for a long time, and then you add young pieces here and there," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "You start to fit your pieces in. I think this defense has the ability to do whatever we want to do once we finally start solidifying those pieces (and determine) who's going to be our starter."
Carr and Washington started the first two games together. After Wilson replaced Carr in Week 3 on the left side, the tandem of Carr and Washington started the next five games before Wilson took over for Washington in Atlanta.
Carr and Wilson will probably start again Sunday in Carolina, but coach John Harbaugh isn't telling.
"I know one thing — I'm going to try to keep my spot," Wilson said. "Whatever the coaches decide from there is on them, but I control my own destiny."
The Ravens would prefer to receive a consistent performance from all four cornerbacks, which would make substituting seamless.
"I definitely see it getting better," Lewis said. "I think it's chemistry. Right now, just moving the pieces the way we are — going from Josh to Webb to Carr — it's great movement. It's just a matter of putting it all together as a group."
Webb is eager, but he's only in his second season and coming off knee surgery. His youth — not his knee — made him a target last week in Atlanta.
"I haven't been here 10 years. I didn't even play my full rookie season," he said. "I played what, five games at corner? They're going to go after the young guys. It's all part of the game."
In spite of their difficulty on defense, the Ravens (6-3) are still tied for first in the AFC North and will play four of their final six games at home after Sunday. That leaves them plenty of time to lower that unsightly number 10 in the defensive rankings.
"Our focus is, if we keep stacking up Ws, all of that will come later," Lewis said. "That's a fact of football. Some of the teams higher than us have worse records than us. It can be misconstrued. We went through the roughest time of our schedule, now it's time to start building on that. Stats will come with that."
The Ravens could make a move against the Panthers (1-8), who will likely start either rookie Tony Pike or journeyman Brian St. Pierre at quarterback.
"I have all the respect in the world for the Baltimore defense," Carolina coach John Fox said. "I think they're playing good defense, and that's why they have a good record."
-- David Ginsburg
Going wrong for Browns' Wright
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — It's gotten so bad, he's being called Eric Wrong.
Browns cornerback Eric Wright is the first to admit he's not having nearly the season he hoped. Burned for several big plays and touchdowns, including a winning TD in overtime last week against the New York Jets, Wright has become a target for some Cleveland fans.
They want him benched — or worse.
Wright's under attack, but he's not running.
"I have a responsibility to this team to be a certain type of player, and I've let my team down time and time again," he said Wednesday. "Obviously, I have to play better."
Late in overtime Sunday, Wright got beat on an inside slant by Santonio Holmes, who took the short pass, stepped away from Wright's lame tackling attempt and darted past two other Browns for a 37-yard score, giving the Jets their second straight OT win.
It was the latest gaffe in a season of errors for Wright, a 2007 second-round pick who has never been lacking for confidence but seems to be playing scared. Baltimore's Anquan Boldin fried Wright for three TDs, and he was responsible for two against Pittsburgh.
The critics have been lining up for weeks. Their legions have grown.
On Wednesday, Wright found himself surrounded in the middle of Cleveland's locker room answering questions about his struggles and defending his reputation. As a few of his teammates walked over to survey the media mob, Wright, backed up against a pillar, never ducked a single probe.
He accepted blame. The only thing Wright disputed was that his performance has been consistently poor.
"I don't feel like it's necessarily been a streak," he said. "The Baltimore game opened the floodgates for us having this type of discussion. That's the worst game I've ever played in my career. It's more of me not doing what I'm supposed to do mentally than physically. But I feel throughout the nine games, I've had more better games than bad games.
"But obviously when you have certain big plays, which you will have playing cornerback, it's going to be looked at in a different way."
In recent days, local sports radio has been crammed with chatter about Wright. Outraged callers have screamed for coach Eric Mangini to sit Wright in favor of rookie Joe Haden. The disdain for Wright has extended into social networking with Twitter users bombarding his personal account with messages, some of them vulgar.
Wright countered by tweeting from the Bible: "And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the 3rd day he shall rise again" Mark 10:34.
It hasn't all been Wright's fault.
On a few of the TDs, it appeared he was looking for help that never arrived. Also, there have been communication breakdowns in a secondary breaking in rookie safety T.J. Ward.
Wright isn't pointing fingers.
"Certain plays just happen," he said. "You don't want them to happen, but they do. There have been a number of times where I just didn't do what I'm supposed to do. There have been other times where things didn't pan out the way I expected it to happen. Obviously, it's a team game, you play the game with your teammates and sometimes things land on you that are really not your fault."
Mangini hasn't lost faith in Wright, at least not publicly.
By the very nature of their position, cornerbacks are on an island. Any play that comes their way is magnified — sometimes good, sometimes bad.
"When you make mistakes, they're a lot more visible," Mangini said when asked about Wright's struggles. "He had a really outstanding year last year and there's been times this year where we've seen that level of play. That's what I expect from him each week."
Mangini said there has been no dropoff in Wright's effort or competitiveness at practice. He expects Wright to correct his mistakes and learn from them.
Wright's teammates don't doubt his ability or that he'll rebound.
"Eric Wright is a great player," said cornerback Sheldon Brown, who expects to play this week in Jacksonville after suffering a "stinger" against the Jets and did not practice. "We as DBs all have our moments when things don't go right, that's just part of the game. You define a champion by how they bounce back from it, period. You can't control the past.
"I think he's mentally still in it. He comes to work, you don't hear him say much. He's studying film, working hard and being a great teammate in the locker room. That's all you can ask."
Safety Mike Adams insists he wouldn't trade Wright for any other cornerback in the NFL. Wright appreciates the support.
"They have my back," he said. "Until I can look into one of these guys' eyes and they look at me in my face and say, 'I don't believe in you anymore,' I'm good. That hasn't happened yet. I'm going to keep pushing and keep working."
-- Tom Withers
Rivers, Orton meet up Monday night
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — There were an NFL-record 13 individual 300-yard passing performances last weekend. Surprisingly, Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton weren't among them.
Rivers, who leads the NFL with 2,944 yards passing, had the weekend off as the San Diego Chargers were on a bye. So, he spent the weekend watching others throw the ball all over the place, including Orton, who came up four yards shy of his sixth 300-yard game this season in Denver's blowout of Kansas City. Orton's second in the league with 2,806 yards passing.
The two prolific passers who are on pace to challenge Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084 yards set in 1984 meet in San Diego on Monday night in what promises to be another aerial show.
"Bombs away," Denver defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson said. "It might be 800 yards."
Two gunslingers in a Southern California showdown. How often has Orton heard that about one of his games?
"First time, probably," he said with a chuckle.
Orton had just three 300-yard games in his first five seasons in the NFL. Now, he averages 311, and he's on pace to throw for 4,988 yards. Rivers averages 327 and is on pace for 5,233.
"It's funny because I think this league kind of goes in waves to where it seems like it's almost a passing league, or then it seems like teams are pounding the ball," Rivers said. "The latter half of last year, it seemed like a ton of yards were being put up by a lot of guys."
The reasons are varied. Rule changes continue to aid the offense. Ever more athletic and versatile running backs, wide receivers and tight ends do, too. There are more strong-armed quarterbacks and coaches who cut their teeth on offense.
"It seems that there are so many more teams that are willing to throw the ball more," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. "I'm sure some of those games people were behind in and threw it maybe more than they wanted. But I think that there's a lot of explosive players and a lot of quarterbacks who have the ability to do that and new schemes, new things that you see people do each week.
"I know I saw bits and pieces of the other night on Monday night and that's something I'm not sure I've seen very much of in my life," McDaniels said of Michael Vick's performance for the ages. "But it's just that's what this league is filled with, very difficult matchups, personnel issues that you've got to figure out how to handle on defense."
The yards just keep piling up through the air. Sometimes it's scheme. Sometimes it's circumstance.
"There's been teams that have gotten behind — we've been one of them — that throw it a little more," Rivers said. "It seems like there have been a ton more big plays, and just chunks of yards. And it's easy for me to say, but I haven't seen many horrible weather games. Obviously that can affect the latter half of the season than the early part. Obviously we're spoiled out here.
"Last week I probably noticed it more than any because I got to sit and watch them. Every channel, the ball's being thrown all over the place."
The 13 games in which quarterbacks surpassed 300 yards last weekend broke the old mark of 10 set in Week 8 of 1984 and tied in Week 15 last year.
While Rivers was enjoying watching the productive passers from his man cave, Orton was winning AFC offensive player of the week honors for throwing a career-high four touchdown passes in a 49-29 rout of the Chiefs that tightened up the AFC West race.
Orton became the first player in team history and the only player in the NFL this season to throw for at least 275 yards with four touchdowns without being sacked or intercepted.
In fact, Orton was hardly touched.
He never was tackled and his jersey was as clean at game's end as it was during the National Anthem.
Asked how it felt to wake up Monday without the usual aches and pains — he'd been sacked eight times over the previous two games and was suffering from a sore shoulder — Orton said, "It felt great. It was noticeable after the game, it was noticeable during the game."
Both Rivers and Orton have a bevy of targets to choose from, although they pile up their yards in different ways, Orton going deep to Brandon Lloyd a lot and Rivers finding tight end Antonio Gates for big gains.
Such an admirer of Rivers is Orton that he breaks from his routine during the Chargers week and watches film of San Diego's offense like he does the defense.
"He's a really good quarterback, I like the way he plays, he's tough, he stays in the pocket with a lot of guys around him and he and Norv (Turner), just shot after shot after shot," Orton said. "And Norv's a great play-caller who has a lot of imagination."
Orton's not a bad case study himself.
He had five jaw-dropping throws against the Chiefs, showing off the kind of arm he never was allowed to while playing in Chicago's run-oriented offense or even last year in Denver, when his two bum ankles prevented him from stepping into his throws and the Broncos lacked a true deep threat because Lloyd never could get activated on game day.
Still, Orton managed a career-best 3,802 yards last season, a mark he could obliterate soon.
"It's a good offense for the quarterback," Orton said, praising his coach's calls, his bevy of targets, his pass protection from linemen, tight ends and backs. "So, it's been a good year passing the football."
All around the league, but especially in Denver and San Diego.
-- Arnie Stapleton
Chiefs buckle up, knuckle down in tough practice
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — When he mapped out long-range plans for rebuilding the Kansas City Chiefs, Todd Haley never figured on spending November practices retracing steps that were covered in training camp.
But neither did he plan on getting blown out in Denver and preparing for Arizona this week on the heels of a two-game losing streak. So in their first post-rout practice since 2009, the Chiefs buckled up, knuckled down and "went back to basics" on Wednesday.
Players said a tough workout was exactly what they needed after Sunday's 49-29 flop to the Broncos, a game in which they set a team record by falling behind 35-0 in the first half.
"Today was just a 'put-your-head-down-and-go-hit' day," said fullback Tim Castille. "Hitting helps a little bit. You get to take your frustrations out on each other a little."
Haley, limping noticeably from an injury or procedure he refused to disclose, agreed with players who said it was a good, energetic practice.
"We got a bunch of base work," he said. "We were in pads, just trying to get back to fundamentals, fundamentals of doing things the right way — offense, defense, special teams. I thought we had a good day's work. I thought we made progress."
Progress seemed urgently needed after the Denver loss. In fact, after a 3-0 start to their second year under Haley, the Chiefs (5-4) have played poorly their last three in a row.
They got lucky and beat Buffalo in overtime, then had no luck in losing in overtime to Oakland. Against Denver, they looked like the 2008 team that finished 2-14 and got the coach and general manager fired. Instead of leading the AFC West, they're tied with Oakland, although the Raiders hold the tiebreaker by virtue of beating them head-to-head.
"There was a lot of energy out there," said linebacker Derrick Johnson. "I thought it was going to be one of those days when everybody was trying hard to get in a groove. But everybody was up. That's a good sign for a Wednesday. Coach has us mentally tough."
The Cardinals (3-6) are on a four-game losing streak, just as the Broncos were last week. Haley's old boss and Arizona counterpart did the same thing as the Chiefs on Wednesday.
"Exactly the same thing," said Whisenhunt, who hired Haley as his offensive coordinator and went to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season. "That's been our bugaboo. Too many mistakes. Too many self-inflicted wounds. We've had that discussion as well here."
The Chiefs are trying desperately to avoid the snowball affect that seems to have gripped the Cardinals.
"Things started to pile on us," Whisenhunt said. "It's tough when you have a couple of (tough losses) back-to-back. It really taxes you confidence-wise, mentally."
Haley appears to have a heavy brace on his right leg. He cited team policy of not talking about injuries when refusing to say how he got hurt. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis has been limping around since training camp with a knee problem he intends to correct through surgery when the season is over.
-- Doug Tucker
McFadden says Raiders not being taken seriously
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Despite their longest winning streak in eight years and a share of the AFC West lead, running back Darren McFadden doesn't think the Oakland Raiders are being taken seriously.
McFadden is the fourth-leading rusher in the NFL and a prime reason the Raiders find themselves in the thick of a playoff race for the first time in nearly a decade.
At 5-4, the Raiders have as many wins as they've had in any season since 2002. Yet the national perception is more pessimistic, which is natural for a franchise that has had an NFL-record seven straight years with 10 or more losses.
McFadden hopes a win against Pittsburgh this week will change that.
"It's always going to be one of those questions," McFadden said Wednesday. "I feel like people are just expecting us any time to fall back into (playing like) last year's team, but I don't think that's something we're going to do. If we can go out there and put up a win against Pittsburgh we're going to be able to show people that we are a for real team."
Only two of Oakland's five wins this season have come against teams with winning records, Seattle and Kansas City. The Raiders' four losses have been against teams struggling to stay above .500, like Tennessee and Houston. They've also dropped games to Arizona and San Francisco, both of which are 3-6.
That could indicate the parity in the NFL in general. Only three teams — the Jets, Patriots and Falcons — have seven wins heading into this weekend; another 14 have losing records.
Oakland coach Tom Cable hopes the critics stick around and points to early-season losses at Arizona and San Francisco as examples for why they should.
"For one, we haven't done anything yet," Cable said. "Those two things gnaw at you because you kind of know what your team should be, but we're not. We have got to keep grinding and fighting and going to work and cutting it loose and doing what we do. If I ever feel like we lose sight of that, I'll reel them back in."
The Raiders' schedule gets considerably tougher from here on out.
After Pittsburgh, they host Miami then go on the road against Jacksonville and Denver followed by home games against Indianapolis and Kansas City. Of those seven teams, only the Chargers (4-5) and Broncos (3-6) are below .500.
"Teams start to separate themselves in November and December," defensive tackle Richard Seymour said. "We want to be one of those elite teams."
The Raiders are coming off a bye and used the time off to get healthy.
Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha (ankle), tight end Zach Miller (arch) and defensive tackle John Henderson all returned to practice, albeit limited. All three are expected to play in Pittsburgh barring a setback.
The news wasn't as encouraging on wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey strained a hamstring during the bye week and was held out of Wednesday's workout.
"It's just sore," Cable said. "It's a real slight sprain, it's not real serious. But it's one of those things where if you push it too much too quick it could become serious, so we're trying to take care of this a little bit."
